


See How Your Enemies Growl, How Your Foes Rear Their Heads

by rayeliann



Series: Tangled Threads [3]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games)
Genre: Blood Magic, F/M, Gen, Self Harm, Violence, self inflicted wounds
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-24
Updated: 2015-11-24
Packaged: 2018-04-27 00:36:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5026906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rayeliann/pseuds/rayeliann
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Make them like whirling dust, O God, like straw before the wind.<br/>Like fire that burns the forest and like a flame that sets the mountains on fire,<br/>So pursue them with your tempest and terrify them with your storm.<br/>- Psalm 83: 13-15</p>
    </blockquote>





	1. A Babysitter for Hawke

**Author's Note:**

> Make them like whirling dust, O God, like straw before the wind.  
> Like fire that burns the forest and like a flame that sets the mountains on fire,  
> So pursue them with your tempest and terrify them with your storm.  
> \- Psalm 83: 13-15

“I am just at my wit’s end!  I’d heard the stories, we all have.  I thought… I do not know what I thought.”  Josephine’s hands flew through the air as she spoke, punctuating her words with feeling.  She pinched the bridge of her nose as she trailed off.  The Ambassador was getting a headache.

“You thought he would be a hero.”  Leliana replied, smiling at her friend.  

The women leaned against the railing of one of Skyhold’s many balconies, overlooking the courtyard far below. Across the yard, atop the battlements parallel, the dark outline of two men could be seen.  One, shorter and stout - a dwarf.  The second was taller and human.  He paced with hunched shoulders, his movements guarded and alert, prowling dangerously.  

“Yes.  I thought… well, the stories… But instead he is just in the way and breaking things.  He has Cassandra and Varric fighting, I heard he started a brawl with one of Cullen’s Templars in the Tavern and he set fire to the scaffolding on the East Wall by accident!  Not to mention the apologies I have to make to our noble guests for the things that come out of his mouth!  I hardly have time for much else!”

“The Inquisitor and Varric are quite convinced he can help with Corypheus.  Besides, if we keep him here, at least we have an eye on him.”

“We need more than an eye.  He needs an army.”

“Don’t worry Josie.  I have just the person for the job.  An agent of mine specializes in… uniquely _difficult_ situations.  She is quite good.  I’ll send for her right away.  I think she will be quite relieved to leave Val Royeaux.”

“Are you sure she can handle the Champion?”

“Oh, it is Hawke who should be worried.”


	2. Agent Acquired: Temerity

The contact from Val Royeaux didn’t arrive cloaked by the cover of darkness the way Leliana expected. Laurel would have said Leliana was spending too long playing in the shadows the way she had assumed the spy would slip into Skyhold silent and stealthy in the dead of night.

Of course, Leliana knew that was easier said than done. Commander Cullen had seen to every contingency to ensure the fortress’s safety and impenetrability. He’d even consulted a few of her agents who were particularly skilled at… creative entry.

Leliana had assumed that Temerity would find a weakness in Cullen’s security - perhaps creeping over one of the lower back walls, the uneven stones had yet to be patched and an experienced or clever climber would find them decent enough foot-holds. There was also the large hole in the wall outside the war-room that had not been repaired, and was seldom guarded. Leliana could think of at least a dozen more ways she could sneak into Skyhold if she put her mind to it.

That was her mistake, she realized. She’d thought too much about what she would do. It had been quite a while since she had worked with Temerity directly. Leliana had forgotten her friend’s clever sense of style.

* * *

 

She was waiting in the rookery when Leliana returned after the morning’s briefing with Josephine, Cullen, and the Inquisitor. One slim, pale finger extended through the bars of the birdcage as she patted one of the ravens on it’s dark head. She was dressed in neat leather armor, a silken shirt, slender brown breeches that disappeared into calf-high boots, and a heavy woolen cloak that was thrown back over her shoulder. Gold-red hair tumbled down her back in shining tresses as she turned at Leliana’s approach.

“Renate!” Leliana exclaimed, a bit surprised to find that she had come herself. When Leliana had sent word to Temerity, she’d thought she would send one of her more skilled agents in her stead. Her friend had neatly engineered herself right into the thick of the Orlesian Court, and it was often inconvenient - borderline impossible - for her to get away for long.

“Leliana.” The woman replied evenly, stormy grey-blue eyes sparkling in amusement. “I did not mean to startle you.”

“My agents did not tell me you had arrived.” Leliana explained warily. She was too used to looking over her shoulder - too used to squinting into shadows. Her friend (and at one time cohort) was standing in front of her, and Leliana found herself looking for traps. She had once trusted Renate implicitly. But people changed. Allegiances changed. Better safe than sorry.

“That is because they were watching for someone garbed in dark clothes to come stealing over the wall at midnight. I walked right in through the front gate with a group of Orlesian pilgrims. One of the guards in the Keep did catch me poking about in one of the hallways, but luckily he was a stout Fereldan fellow and I just babbled at him in Orlesian, and the next thing I knew he had escorted me to your library. Helpful fellow.”

“I had not expected you to come in person.”

“Ahh, for you, I would trust no one else.”

“That is kind of you. I’d rather thought you would be busy at court.” Renate had neatly maneuvered herself into the good graces of the Grand Duke Gaspard du Chalons. The very good graces … she was his kept woman. Leliana suspected that the Grand Duke would take notice if his mistress went missing for several months. He was a sharp, cautious man. He would ask questions.

Renate made a scoffing sound in the back of her throat, rolling her eyes.

“I had to get away. A civil war and a hole in the sky, and those foolish people carry on as if nothing is wrong. I heard what happened at Haven… and after the Conclave…. I could not sit by and do nothing.”

“It is not dangerous for you to be involved with the Inquisition?”

“As far as I know, your Inquisitor has not declared support for either side of their little civil war. Of course, I have plans in place should she decide to do so. Don’t worry about me, old friend.”

Renate reached into the folds of her cloak for a moment before withdrawing a crumpled, weather-beaten missive. It was tied closed with a faded piece of string looped around it and knotted securely, but there was no waxy seal.

Renate passed the little paper bundle to Leliana, and the spymaster felt her hands threatening to shake. What felt like ages ago, she had reached out to Temerity and her associates in hopes of finding Laurel. Or at the very least getting a letter to her. This was not the letter she had sent. The paper was rough to the touch, and Leliana had sealed hers with a deep purple wax, the seal of the nightingale pressed into it. This… Could this letter be from Laurel?

“Thank you.” Leliana murmured softly, tucking the paper into her pocket, fingers lingering to brush over the parchment one more time, just to be sure it was real. Renate nodded, politely pretending not to notice the way Leliana’s voice trembled, and her face flushed.

“There is one other matter I think you should be aware of, Nightingale.”

“Oh?”

“It seems a little thing, but it could be… more. The last letter you sent me, the one about this place, it had been opened.”

“The seal was broken?”

“No. But it was… I think whoever intercepted your letter did not study your seal well enough. It was a forgery.”

“You are sure?”

“Oh yes. Do you trust your people?”

“Do you trust yours?” Leliana deflected easily. She would rather not think of the betrayal of Butcher and the loss of her other scouts.

“I don’t trust anyone.” Temerity smiled at her, teeth flashing white in the low light of the tower. The smile did not reach her stormy blue-grey eyes.


End file.
